2025 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship

2025 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship

Tournament details
Dates	May 9–11, 2025
Teams	9
Final positions
Champions	Stanford, 10th title
Runner-up	USC
Third place	Hawaii and UCLA
Awards
Best player	Christine Carpenter, Stanford
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The 2025 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship was the 23rd edition of the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, the annual tournament to decide the championship of NCAA women's collegiate water polo. The tournament was held from May 9 to May 11, 2025, at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana. In the championship game, aired live on ESPNU, Stanford defeated Southern California 11-7. It was Stanford's 10th NCAA title in women's water polo and its 137th NCAA title in a team sport.

Qualifying teams

The field of teams was revealed in a selection show on April 28, 2025. Six conferences are granted automatic qualification to the championship: the Big West Conference, Collegiate Water Polo Association, Golden Coast Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Western Water Polo Association. Three additional teams earned entry into the tournament with at-large bids, with all of them coming from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. ^[1]

Seed	Team	Conference	Bid type	Appearance
1	Stanford	MPSF	Automatic	24th
2	UCLA	MPSF	At-large	23rd [2]
3	USC	MPSF	At-large	21st [3]
4	Hawai'i	Big West	Automatic	9th
	California	MPSF	At-large	19th
	Loyola Marymount	GCC	Automatic	10th [4]
	Harvard	CWPA	Automatic	1st [5]
	McKendree	WWPA	Automatic	1st [6]
	Wagner College	MAAC	Automatic	8th

Schedule and results

All times Eastern

Game	Time	Matchup	Score	TV	Attendance
Opening Round – Wednesday, May 7
1	6:00 p.m.	Wagner vs. McKendree	19–7	NCAA.com
Quarterfinals – Friday, May 9
2	12:00 p.m.	Stanford vs. Wagner	28–7	NCAA.com
3	2:00 p.m.	Hawaii vs. California	8–7		287
4	4:00 p.m.	UCLA vs. LMU (CA)	11–8		302
5	6:00 p.m.	Southern California vs. Harvard	18–7		345
Semifinals – Saturday, May 10
6	12:00 p.m.	Stanford vs. Hawaii	13–4	NCAA.com	329
7	2:00 p.m.	UCLA vs. Southern California	13–15		348
Championship – Sunday, May 11
8	12:00 p.m.	Stanford vs. Southern California	11–7	ESPNU	398

Tournament bracket

	Opening round Wednesday, May 7, 2025					Quarterfinals Friday, May 9, 2025					Semifinals Saturday, May 10, 2025					Championship Sunday, May 11, 2025
						1	Stanford	28
		Wagner	19				Wagner	6
		McKendree	7								1	Stanford	13
											4	Hawaii	4
						4	Hawaii	8
							California	7
																1	Stanford	11
																3	USC	7
						2	UCLA	11
							LMU (CA)	8
											2	UCLA	13
											3	USC	15
						3	USC	18
							Harvard	7

All Tournament Team

First Team

• Ryann Neushul (Stanford)
• Jenna Flynn (Stanford)
• Emma Lineback (UCLA)
• Tilly Kearns (USC)
• Rachel Gazzaniga (USC)
• Bernadette Doyle (Hawai’i)
• Christine Carpenter (Most Outstanding Player, Stanford)

Second Team

• Ava Stryker (USC)
• Anna Pearson (UCLA)
• Jordan Wedderburn (Hawai’i)
• Eszter Varro (California)
• Ruby Hodge (Harvard)
• Ruth Arino Ariz (Loyola Marymount)
• Anna Reed (USC)

References

1. "2025 NCAA women's water polo championship: How to watch the selection show, bracket, schedule". NCAA.com. NCAA. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
2. "UCLA Earns No. 2 Seed for 2025 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
3. "USC Women's Water Polo Sets Course For 21st Consecutive NCAA Appearance". USCTrojans.com. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
4. "LMU Women's Water Polo Set for 10th NCAA Tournament Appearance, Open Against 2-Seed UCLA". LMU Lions. Loyola Marymount University Athletics. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
5. "Women's Water Polo Wins First Ever CWPA Championship". gocrimson.com. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
6. "Women's Water Polo will Match Up with Wagner in the Opening Round of the National Collegiate Water Polo Championships". mckbearcats.com. Retrieved 28 April 2025.